


Saving Me

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Month 2018 [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Drowning, Gen, M/M, Prince!Keith, Prince!Shiro, Sheith Month 2018, Shiro can't stop staring at Keith's muscles, day 7-royalty/clones, hybrid keith, mer!Keith, merman Keith, sheithmonth2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 07:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15213947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: When Shiro almost drowns in the ocean, he remembers waking up to the person who saved him. Months later, he finds him again.“Thank you,” Shiro muttered as he grinned, feeling relief flood through his body, “For saving me. What’s your name?”“Keith,” Keith stated with a somewhat raspy voice as he watched Shiro, “What’s yours?”“I’m Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro,” he felt his cheeks warm up at the look Keith gave him, “But you might know that already.”“I guessed,” the boy shrugged as he glanced away, “Heard...rumors.”“Are they bad or good rumors?”“Not sure,” Keith raised a brow, but Shiro could see the slight grin on his lips, “But the one about you being a damsel-in-distress was right.”





	Saving Me

Shiro choked as saltwater entered his mouth. Thrashing his arms to stay afloat, he struggled to breathe as an ocean wave splashed over his head. He was a great swimmer, having been taught since he was old enough to walk. Their country was one surrounded by ocean on three sides, after all. His parents had made sure that he had some survival skills along with the princely ones he had to learn. So he was good at swimming, had done so in the same ocean many times before.

But he was exhausted. He’d been in the water for probably hours if not half the day. He could feel the waves trying to drag him down almost like hands pulling him at his waist. The cold water and fierce wind whipped at him until his skin felt ready to peel off. He felt chilled even though he was at no risk of hypothermia. How his prosthetic had made it this long in the water was beyond him as he flapped his arms out again. His white fringe of hair stuck to his forehead. Shiro coughed as another splash hit him in the face again. Sputtering out both air and water, his lungs burned as salt water and barely any air made it in them. 

He kicked as another wave rushed over him. Moments passed before he realized that he couldn’t breathe at all, still stuck under the dark murky water. Disoriented so far that he didn’t know if he was upside down or not, Shiro fought to reach fresh air. He thrust his arms, pushed against the water, and tried to move, but he was sure he hadn’t moved at all. He was wasting his energy enough that whatever air that was in his lungs escaped in bubbles. Shiro was feeling too light-headed to note whether they were going up or down as much darker spots clouded his vision on the edges. His lungs burned, wanting air they couldn’t get.

A bit after that, his body forced him to take in a breath. He felt water enter his mouth and nose as the blurs widened to take up almost all of his sight. Feeling himself fading, he just got out a plea in his mind that his parents and friends didn’t feel too terrible about his death. That his country wouldn’t mourn their lost prince too long. That they could find a better pilot than him at the academy.

Just before the darkness crashed into him, he saw something move in the corner of his eye. As he completely faded, he couldn’t help but think that no big fish had a tail that red.

…..

When he came to, he rolled over and gagged. Heaving mouthful after mouthful of foul ocean water, he collapsed after he started to dry heave. Taking in deep breaths like he’d never get any more, he settled down with his arm over his eyes. The metal of his limb felt warm against his cool flesh. He listened to the gentle breeze whistling by his ears. The smell of seaweed and ocean spray washed over him. He could feel the warmth of the sun on him along with the light that tried to burn through his fingers to his eyelids. He could feel a warm hand on his shoul-

Blinking his eyes open, he was startled as he came face-to-face with another face. This face was clearly another guy. His big eyes were decorated with long, ebony lashes set with a pair of violet eyes that reminded Shiro of the depth of space he only saw in pictures. Pale skin was a soft light golden hue as the man glanced at him, head tilting in an adorable way. Longer just-as-black hair framed his face, hardly wet at all, looking pretty soft. Shiro couldn’t see anything passed the boy’s mid-chest, shoulders bare and muscled. Shiro dragged his eyes away from said muscles hesitantly as he glanced at the hand resting on his own shoulder. While the guy was clearly not comfortable with touching Shiro, his touch was featherlight, he also was steady in doing it. Shiro felt himself relax as the guy looked him over.

“Thank you,” Shiro muttered as he grinned, feeling relief flood through his body, “For saving me. What’s your name?”

“Keith,” Keith stated with a somewhat raspy voice as he watched Shiro, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro,” he felt his cheeks warm up at the look Keith gave him, “But you might know that already.”

“I guessed,” the boy shrugged as he glanced away, “Heard...rumors.”

“Are they bad or good rumors?”

“Not sure,” Keith raised a brow, but Shiro could see the slight grin on his lips, “But the one about you being a damsel-in-distress was right.”

“Yep,” Shiro felt his blush kick itself up by about a thousand times, “Great at many things, but can’t stay out of trouble.”

“Me neither,” Keith snickered as his amethyst eyes stared into Shiro’s, “My adopted dad is always having to search for me because I ended up in a fight somewhere or wandered off.”

“Rumor or…?”

“Only about half,” the younger laughed softly before he suddenly went quiet. Shiro whipped his head towards the direction he was staring, which was the shore further in. Turning back to the young man, he blinked when he saw nothing there. Where Keith had been was now a ripple of water like a pebble had been tossed into it.

“Keith?” Shiro called out as he sat up, but soon fell back as his mechanical arm gave out on him, “Keith!”

“Shiro,” Shiro turned to the voice to find his friend Matt racing toward him, “Shiro, are you okay? You disappeared on us, man. Knew we shouldn’t have gone for a walk along the cliff.”

“You were the one who wanted to,” Shiro reminded him absentmindedly as he searched the waves for the other boy, only to not see him at all, “I’m okay.”

“You look kinda drowned, man,” Matt stated as he grabbed Shiro’s flesh arm and tugged up, “We thought you were a goner.”

“Thanks, Matt,” he stated sarcastically before a smile cracked his face, “So where’s everyone else?”

“Unlike you, they didn’t fall to their almost death,” Matt jabbed playfully at him as he got to his feet, “You’re clumsy sometimes-”

“Matt,” Shiro whined as he threw a hand over his face, “ _Matt._ ”

“Just kidding, mostly,” he added as an afterthought as he laughed when Shiro put his arm over his shoulder, “We’re glad you’re okay. Missed you.”

“How long was I gone?” Shiro took a few shaky steps forward before he gained enough strength to go on, “What about Mom and Dad?”

“It’s been about 14 hours since you fell into the water,” Shiro felt his mind agree with his earlier assessment, “Your parents were really worried. But your dad knew you’d be okay.”

“Hm,” the sentence was weird because he couldn’t see how his dad would know he’d be okay. But then again, the man was the type to believe in destiny and mythical beings like sirens and mermaids. Even as king, he was strangely into those things. That’s why Shiro was so open to the ideas of aliens and foreign cultures. Letting out a small sigh, he glanced back out at the serene waters. There still was no Keith. He probably had imagined the whole encounter because of the water he’d breathed in or from the near drowning. Shrugging it off, he marched back with Matt chatting away at his side. 

But he couldn’t get those purple eyes out of his mind.

…..

It was three months later when Matt and his sister rushed up to a studying Shiro who blinked over at them as they talked excitedly and without pausing for breath. Shiro almost broke his pencil with his mechanical arm as Matt slammed his door open with a loud bang.

“Shiro, you’re not gonna believe it,” Pidge bounced around as she jumped on his large, black bed nearby, “They found one!”

“Found one what?” He asked with confusion as he put his Advanced Physics book to the side along with his tablet and pencil. Matt smiled at him as he pulled his phone out, tapping the screen before a picture of a poster appeared. The poster was pretty plain, hardly anything spectacular. But what was in the print on the bottom surprised Shiro.

“Merman?”

“Yeah!” Pidge exclaimed with stars in her eyes, “I’ve always wondered what was in the ocean’s depths. I knew the communication I was getting on my computer wasn’t another person. There are mermaids out there.”

“How did they find him?” Shiro stated as he stared at the page, “I mean, we’ve never seen any mermaids or mermen and this pops up?”

“We’ll have to find out,” Matt put his phone away as he yanked on Shiro’s arm, “The show starts in a half an hour. It’s just down by the beach. Should take us about that time to get there. Less if Shiro drives us on that fancy bike of his.”

“Alright,” Shiro snickered as grabbed his brown jacket and made sure to leave a note explaining where he was going, “Let’s go.”

They snuck their way out of the room, down a few halls, past the guards at the door, and over to the garage just like they used to when they were all younger. Inside were all kinds of machines. Most were the military-grade trucks, but some were for more formal events. There even was a few planes inside. Shiro headed for the back of the large garage as he put in his code to get it open. When the storage room opened, he smiled at his cherry red hoverbike sitting there. Flying always made Shiro feel better.

Situating the other two on it, he rushed out of the hangar and through the gates in the back. It took about twenty-five minutes, but they were soon at the beach. A large platform was set up about 30 yards from the water. A crowd was already gathered, possibly half of the city was there. They were all seated on the benches already, and Shiro and his friends walked over to two others waving back at them.

“Hey, guys,” his friend Lance exclaimed while Hunk waved, “We get to see a merman! This is so exciting...But I’ve already seen one so no biggie.”

“Oh yeah,” Pidge teased as she sat beside the other teen, “The one very pretty one who you thought was a human at first and totally thought was ugly until she took off her helmet?”

“Hey!” He exclaimed as he frowned at her, “I did too see her. You just don’t believe me!”

“Yeah, sure,” the blonde smirked before she turned to Hunk who just shrugged, “Hey, Hunk.”

“Hey, Pidge,” he grinned kindly before it took on a nervous air, “So...I’m hoping...Do you think they have an actual merman? I mean, no one’s ever seen one. That’s kind of fishy.”

“Fishy,” Lance laughed before Hunk gently swatted at him, “Okay. Okay. Just the pun.”

“When does the show start?” Shiro asked as he subtly got them back on track. His friends were all like that. Always off being distracted by something or another. It was kind of nice most of the time.

“Ladies and gentlemen and whatever in between or not listed,” a voice called out, perfectly heard through the large crowd as an average height man stepped onto the stage, “I am Vantor, your host today. I’ve heard about these fair parts and have come to explore. As you know from the poster I’ve sent out, you’re all here for the same thing.”

He paused as the crowd took in what he was saying. He gestured to a large tank nearby with a tarp on it as a large man took hold of the white cover.

“I, the first ever human, have captured something no one else has seen in all our knowledge,” he waved his hand around in a catchy gesture, “A creature that is very monstrous and untamable. Something that would surely kill us all if it were free. It is my pleasure to show it to you today.”

A moment of silence and excited whispers echoed around the stadium before he waved to the man.

“I introduce you to the first,” the tarp came off in one pull, “Merman.”

Inside, was a tail the brightest red Shiro had ever seen. It was exactly the color of his bike. Something stirred in his mind, a flash as he recalled water pushing in on him. The swirl of a scarlet tail weaving around him. As he blinked, he took in the rest of the merman. The tail was long and was moving a lot in agitated motions. Shiro trailed his eyes from the shiny tail over the merman’s slim hips that faded to pale skin. As he put his gaze further up, he saw an ebony mop of hair that looked kind of familiar. As the crowd let out gasps and shouts of surprise, the young prince was taken back to the day he’d almost drowned. To the face above his own, the hand on his shoulder, the violet eyes staring into his.

This was the boy who’d saved him. It was Keith.

The man on the stage walked up to the cage, smirk more sinister by the second. When he tapped the glass wall, Keith snapped around to him, looking angry. His eyes were almost glowing yellow as the usual purple irises were slits not unlike a cat’s. He let out a hiss as he backed up, showing his pointy fangs as the man moved closer, sharp claws out on his fingers. While the others whispered about the merman’s behavior, all Shiro could do was stare in horror.

Because Keith wasn’t like this. The merman he’d met was soft and gentle. All round edges instead of sharp points. Keith had saved him and watched over him to make sure he was okay. He was afraid of being seen by humans. He wasn’t an angry monster, he was a scared defensive merman. Whatever he had been through wasn’t good. New scars littered the boy, none of them had been there when he’d last seen him. There was a jagged one on his right shoulder, looking older than the rest. He had a few cuts along his arms that were just visible from where Shiro sat.

Shiro was no stranger to scars since he had one on the bridge of his nose. There were others on his body, but he doubted that even his closest friends knew about them since he always covered up. He didn’t like how his body looked with them, much less how others looked at him with pity or disgust.

Shiro saw Keith turn his head to the left to warily watch the man. The prince lost his breath as he looked at the smooth scar carved across the merman’s right cheek. It looked recent, and if it had gone an inch higher, Keith would have lost his eye. Even from this distance, Shiro could see that it wasn’t a scar like the others. It was a burn mark. Something hot, probably made from plasma, had to have been pushed against his face.

No wonder Keith was acting this way.

Shiro stood up suddenly as his own anger grew. He ignored his friends’ shouts and questions as he rushed down towards the platform. He saw a group of larger men start towards him. They must have been the man’s guards as they edged closer to him. But Shiro wasn’t tough for no reason. He ducked around the first three that tried to touch him. The crowd had yet to notice anything besides the man and Keith, which he used to his advantage. Racing through the crowd, Shiro jumped up on the stage.

“Let him go!” 

The man looked at him, startled that someone spoke up. Shiro noticed Keith blink, gaze turned soft yet curious, as his fangs and eyes returned back to normal. The man made a sound of displeasure at the interruption.

“Who are you to question me, boy?” Vantor shouted as he moved towards the tank in which Keith shrunk back while sending Shiro a lost look, “I will not let this being go.”

“This ‘being’ saved my life,” Shiro glared at the surprised man, “And I am Takashi Shirogane, prince of this country.”

“Prince…” the man glared back at him, looking him up and down before bowing slightly, “ _My bad, your Highness._ However, I cannot just release the beast back to the ocean. What if it were to attack your people? It already injured three of my men.”

“Because you hurt him,” Shiro stated as he moved between them so the cage was to his back, “I trust Keith with my life.”

“You know the thing’s name?” The man exclaimed as took a few steps towards Shiro only for Keith to let out a hiss in warning, Shiro having no doubt his eyes and fangs were back, “It still has not muttered its name to us.”

“Don’t come any closer,” Shiro knew he should be more diplomatic being royalty and all, but he couldn’t when Keith was at risk, so he activated his arm to make sure no one came close, the appendage glowing a bright blue, “I’m letting him go.”

The guards were now on the platform, ready to crowd him and the merman at his back. Shiro waited for them to rush forward, but the man just waved his hand dismissively.

“If that is the way it shall be,” he frowned as he stared at them, sharp eyes narrowed, “Take it. Let it roam free. Do you think I’m the only one going to catch it? There will be others now that your fair country knows about it. Do you really think you can keep it safe?”

Shiro glanced behind him at a rejected-looking Keith who simply stared at the bottom of the tank as he bit his lip. Shiro didn’t like that look and wanted to pull the other into a hug. But he faced the man down as he steadied himself.

“He’s not an ‘it’,” he stated calmly as his flesh hand tapped the glass, “And he’s not some dumb animal to be arguing over. He deserves to be his own person just as much as anyone here. And if that means I have to stop people like you from going after him, I will.”

“Shiro,” he heard Keith whisper behind him brokenly, “It’s okay. You don’t have to-”

“I do,” Shiro sent him a soft smile as he looked back into purple eyes, “Both as my duty as prince and as your friend.”

“Friend…?” Keith tilted his head which highlighted the scar as he glanced from Shiro to the ocean to the man and back to Shiro, “I...Okay, Shiro.”

“Release him, and you won’t get in trouble,” Shiro grew determined as a small smile curved the merman’s lips, “Leave.”

“Have the thing,” Vantor stated as his men pulled back to his side, “We’re leaving. Just hope the beast doesn’t leave the ocean here.”

With that, the man marched away with his buff minions following him mindlessly. Shiro watched them go as they walked through the large, confused crowd. A moment of heavy silence hung over them before Shiro faced Keith fully, gently gripping his smaller hands.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Keith responded, but didn’t pull away from the grip, “What if your country ends up in a war because of this?”

“Then it’s worth it,” Shiro brushed his thumb over the mark, “I won’t let them hurt you, Keith. You saved my life, and I never give up on my friends. I won’t give up on you.”

“Thanks,” Shiro saw the other’s eyes get shiny as he let out his own grin, “Shiro.”

“Let’s get you out of this tank,” when Keith nodded, Shiro carefully reached his hands into the water, arms beneath his shoulders and tail. As he lifted, he couldn’t help but feel the contrast between the warmth and softness of skin and the slippery smooth coolness of scales against his other bicep as Keith wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck. Water cascaded off of the crimson tail as Shiro moved away from the tank. Silently asking if Keith was okay, he got a nod in reply as the younger smiled. About to take a step to the sea, Shiro stopped as he was blinded by a bright indigo light. Holding onto the merman, he watched as the light shifted over the tail until it became too bright to look at. Although he couldn’t feel much through his metal arm, he could tell that scales shifted to skin that was just as warm as the other side.

And then Keith had legs.

Shiro shared shocked looks with a now naked Keith who sent him back an equally startled look. Thinking quickly, Shiro pulled off his jacket with one arm and wrapped Keith in it. The brown material covered from his (very muscled) stomach to his mid-thighs. There was no hint of scales anywhere on the man, who now just looked like a human. Shiro couldn’t help but think that he looked no less beautiful though.

“What just happened?”

“I guess...because I’m half human,” Keith shrugged as he glanced over to the ocean, “Oh, I’m probably in trouble.”

“What?” Shiro turned to the water, about to ask for him to explain when he saw what he meant. There in the blue waters were two other merpeople out of the water enough to see their scales. One was a darker-skinned man with white hair and blue eyes. His scales were dark blue with some white and golden patches here and there that looked a lot like armor. Beside him was another dark-skinned girl also with white hair and blue eyes. Her scales were iridescent, flowing between pastel pink, blue, green, yellow, and purple. 

“Keith,” the man stated as he waved, and Shiro brought his newest friend closer, “What have you done this time?”

The man was clearly teasing him gently if the smile was anything to go with. The mermaid beside him rolled her eyes before she too smiled and swam closer.

“Where were you for the past few phoebs?”

“I got caught,” Keith sighed before he relaxed his head on Shiro’s shoulder, “But Shiro saved me.”

“You saved me first.”

“Ah,” she sent them a smirk as she got a gleam to her eyes, “This must be the human prince you were telling me about.”

“ _Allura!_ ” A blush covered Keith’s face as he glared at her, “Please.”

“Oh, no, I have to,” she grinned before she inspected Shiro, who kept his firm but gentle grip on Keith, “It’s nice to meet you, Shiro.”

“Nice to meet you too-”

“Perhaps we should make an introduction,” the other man raised a hand, “I am King Alfor of Altea, and this is my daughter, Allura. Keith is my son.”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Shiro bowed the slightest before he snickered when Keith held him even tighter, “Sorry, Keith.”

“It’s okay.” 

“I’ve heard much about you,” King Alfor chuckled as he flipped his tail, “Your father has often spoken to me about his life, you were a big part of it.”

“You know me?” Shiro asked in shock as Keith sent the merman the same look, “How?”

“It was the people of Altea and Olkari that worked on the arm you’ve been given,” Alfor stated as his smile turned sad, “Along with some help from your science friends.”

“They didn’t know that we gave them the tech,” Allura explained as Shiro sent a glance to Matt, Pidge, and Hunk, “Just that an anonymous person sent it to help.”

“As an apology from the royal family,” Keith stated as his face lit up in wonder, “You’re the one who was on the boat to Kerberos that day. Sorry about the arm. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“That’s all over now,” Shiro shrugged slightly as Keith shifted in his arms, “What now? I don’t think you’ll be able to go back into the ocean like this.”

“He can,” the older merman laughed as he gazed at Keith who tilted his head back, “He’s done it plenty of times when he was much younger. Eventually, we had to use our alchemy to make sure he didn’t almost drown himself if he were stuck too long in the water. Must have caused a few memory problems.”

“Oh.”

“Besides,” Allura spoke up as her eyes wondered past Shiro and to the slightly younger teen in his arms, “He looks comfy where he is.”

Shiro was confused for a second before he saw what made her say that. Keith was barely hanging onto his neck anymore, too tired to do so as he blinked his eyes. It must have taken everything out of him to transform from merman to human. Added to what torture he’d been through the last few months with the cruel men, he must have been exhausted. Shiro was only proven correct when moments later, Keith yawned cutely.

“I think I’ve got him,” Shiro nodded as he held the other closer to his chest, “I’ll make sure he gets some rest and medical attention.”

“That sounds good,” the king agreed as he smiled at Keith who was now sleeping peacefully, “There’s no one else I trust as much to make sure he’s happy. Allura, we must get back.”

“Yes, father,” she sent them a sweet smile before pulling away from the beach and waving her hand, “We will visit again. Tell Keith to visit us sometime...If he’s not too busy with you, that is.”

Shiro’s face burned as the two ducked into the lapping waves. He pulled the resting young man even closer before he strolled away from the beach, soft hair resting on his chin and neck. He was going to take Keith back to the castle. There’s no place he’d rather have him.

He laughed as Keith let out a tiny snore.


End file.
